Path of the Hunters
by Ayanokoji Akuno
Summary: A story of four hunters, who, together, have earned themselves a great name in the guild. This next quest seems to be any normal quest, but it may turn out to be one that changes them all forever. First story, title good? Let me know what you think.
1. Meet the team

**I was bored, decided to write this up. IF it goes anywhere, there could be more, I don't know. OC characters, will be based on the MHFU world, as that being the most recent MH game I played (until freedom 3 comes out, XD).**

**Anyway, read and tell me what you think. Be brutal; it is how one should critique a writer/artist/etc, is it not? I might pull POV's throughout, so, just a forewarning as to avoid getting y'all confused and then taking out the frustration on the writer (me). I'll give y'all a hint, it's starting off as your standard third person.**

She walked up to the guild counter to talk to the guild maid who assigned G-Ranked quests, to take up a contract to hunt down two Naruga Karuga. Her elegant armor, made of prized Kirin hide, seemed to shimmer under the dim light in the guild hall. She could feel eyes following her as she walked; she was a well known hunter in the guild hall, having achieved a hunter rank of 8. "How may I help you today?" asked the guild maid, as she found herself at the counter already, unaware due to having her attention focused on the people around her. "I would like to take up a contract for hunting the dual Naruga Karuga." The female hunter replied as she placed the pamphlet on the counter for the guild maid to see. "Alrighty, the fee for this quest will be 6000z." replied the guild maid in a cheery voice. The female hunter paid the fee to the guild maid and waited for confirmation. "Okay, then, will you be going alone or in a party?" she asked. The female hunter almost wanted to make a retort to that question, as taking on dual G-Ranked Naruga Karuga alone was rather ridiculous, but it is possible so she kept her comment to herself, "I will be in a party, thank you." The guild maid wrote a few things down, "Your usual party ma'am?" "Yes." "Okay, you are all set, Miss Tsubaki. When you and your party are ready, please exit through the door in the back" "Thank you" replied Tsubaki, waving bye to the guild maid before turning around and walking to the table in the back, where her party waited.

**Tsubaki's POV**

I slowly walked back to the table where everyone else was waiting. To be honest, I am pretty nervous about this quest. Sure, I have faced many things much worse than a Naruga Karuga, but they always gave me a bit of trouble. Honestly…I get nervous before every quest. I reach the table and sat down on the seat, and proceeded to tell everyone else we can go anytime. "I got it done. We can go anytime we are all ready, okay guys?" "Make sure you bring whetstones this time, Tsubaki. Remember the last time you forgot to bring enough, and you had to re-sharpen? We were lucky that I was able to fell the beast before he got to you." The voice came from the sole male member of the party. Geared up in full Silver Rathalos armor, none of us have ever seen what his face looks like. He never takes the damned armor off. He preferred Great Swords, and he wore his Emperor Thundersword with much effect to that. "I know, I know. I got my stuff before I went to the counter." I replied with a pout.

"Aww, just look at that cute face of yours!" a pair of hands reached out to pinch my cheeks, stretching them apart. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, owie!" I cried out, trying to pry her hands off my face, which I managed to after some effort. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it!" she said with a smile. "That really hurt you know Hiroko," I said to her, rubbing my cheeks, "have YOU got all your stuff?" She sat back down, searching through her bag, pulling out various assortments of items. "Herbs…Mega Potions…Coatings…" she muttered as she began to pull out more items. "Okay, okay, I can see you have your stuff. Just put it back already or we will never get going." I said, starting to put items back in her bag. She just smiled at me, before going to put her items back. Hiroko is the bow user in our group; she may seem like an innocent child, but she was a dead-aim with a bow. She has saved our asses more than once. She was wearing her Kushala Daora set today; her helmet sitting on the table, which left her face exposed. She had a cute face, not marred by scratches or scars, she had a slight tan to her skin, giving her a kind of exotic look, blue eyes, which were currently hidden by her long, golden hair that was free from its tie, covering her face as she had her head bent over looking over her bag. Her bow of choice for today was her Prominence Bow IV, which was ideal for this hunt.

"Are you ready?" I asked the final member of our party, who was sitting in the corner by the wall. She was the most mysterious of our group. Donning a full custom Naruga Karuga armor set; it was different from the usual female Narga armor set. The helmet fully covered her face, save for the area where her eyes are, the body was altered to cover all of her, to offer a bit more protection, resembling more of a plate mail, only small portions of her torso underneath was visible; the gauntlets were made a little more built, with some little black feathers attached to enhance the appearance, the tasset was re-modeled to cover her waist more effectively, covering her thighs, and in turn, the legs were made thinner, to shape to her legs more. All adorned with black feathers, gave her a fearsome appearance. Coincidentally, her eyes wear a fierce, crimson color, to say she was like a miniature Nargacuga on two legs…you wouldn't be far off. Those crimson eyes staring back at me, she only nodded her head, to affirm my question. "O-okay then…" I said in a daze; her eyes seemed to have had me in a trance. I looked down on the table where my weapon lied; a Golden Falchion and its shield. I strapped the shield to my arm and grasped the hilt of my sword, feeling the heat it contained, and holstered it on my back.

**Normal POV**

"All right, is everyone ready now?" said the male hunter, re-adjusting his Emperor Thundersword on his back. "Yup!" replied Hiroko, in her cheery voice, tying her hair up before donning her helmet. "All set here Akuno." said Tsubaki, shifting her belt. "And you, Kai?" Akuno asked the female in the corner, who was strapping her Corpse Blades on her back. Kai was just their codename for her. She agreed, through nodding, to the name. Why she didn't talk, they don't know, but they all understood her loud and clear when out on a hunt. She nodded her head yes after strapping her weapons. "All right! Let's do this!" exclaimed Hiroko, who now had her helmet on. The cute face, replaced by an intimidating helmet, her voice muffed, her bow and quiver strapped on her back. "Okay, here is the plan, we will have to break up into groups of two. When you find your target, mark it, as per usual. If only one is to be found, the group that found it will have to signal the other group, so that we can all converge on it and take it out quickly. Is that clear?" "Roger!" exclaimed both Hiroko and Tsubaki; Kai merely nodding her approval. "All right then! Let's go!" He waved his arm in a beckoning gesture. The four of them headed off through the door, onto another hunt and another adventure. Though little do they know, this one hunt may turn out to be different than any of them ever anticipated.

**Okay! This will be the first chapter or not. It depends on the reviews and my own things. For Kai, I decided to give her a custom type of Narga armor to further enhance the point of her mysteriousness. If I had anything wrong, like weapons and the like, let me know as I don't have a copy of the game to check myself. Sorry for the boring take, but this is more meant to be an introductory. If everything goes well, might be seeing some more chapters. Anyway, leave reviews.**


	2. Time for the hunt

**Okay folks, this will be the second chapter. And because I can, I am going to start off with everyone already at the camp, because I can and I am that lazy. There will be action (finally) in this part. Once again, the usual, read, review, etc, etc. The characters are my own from MHF/2/U. Tsubaki and Akuno have made it all the way to Unite from Freedom 1. 'Kai' and Hiroko I just made up for the sake of the story, but you can bet I would make the characters.**

The team was huddled up at base camp, going over the plan, again, laid out by Akuno back in the guild hall. "Okay," said Akuno, as he opened the map that was supplied, revealing the areas, "we usually see it in this area here," his finger pointing to the right-most area on the map, "but since there are two of them here somewhere, this may not be the case." he finished, putting the map away. Everyone readied themselves again one final time before leaving base camp. "Now," said Akuno, "We decide who is going with whom." "Oh, oh, oh! I want to be w—" Hiroko's words stopped short as they watched Kai go over to Tsubaki, and stand next to her. "Well then, looks like it is decided. Kai and Tsubaki, you two will head west and upward. Hiroko and I shall head east." Akuno said calmly, walking over to Hiroko. "Aww maaaan! I'm stuck with him." She pouted, stomping her feet; given the armor she was wearing, this made an odd sight indeed. "Quit whining Hiroko and let's get going." "Ooooh…okay…" she said, having given up, "We meet soon then, right?" The other two females nodded and then Hiroko and Akuno made their exit north, leaving Tsubaki and Kai.

**Tsubaki's POV**

I was shocked, to find that I was being partnered up with Kai. Usually it's Hiroko and I but now… I look over to Kai, only to find a pair of crimson eyes staring back at me. Trying to find my voice I spoke, "U-u-um…shall we go now?" I asked, stuttering my words as I spoke. Her eyes, being only what I could really see, were staring back at me. Almost as if she was trying to look through me….or inside me. Then she nodded her head yes, and we made our way west of the base camp.

We walked into the small grove, the sounds of the water and nature itself assaulting my ears. We slowly walked, making sure there was no sign of the Nargacuga. Only when we were sure it wasn't in the area, did we make our presence known. Then a rustling came from the trees, on instinct, we both drew our weapons, my Golden Falchion, her Corpse Blades, at the ready. We waited for whatever it was to show itself; for our trouble, we were met with Vespoids. I slumped in disappointment, Kai made no movement or indication or disapproval, but I think she was thinking the same I was. ".hell." I holstered my sword again, seeing no REAL danger here. 'Maybe if there were like 50 Vespoid…then yes', I thought to myself as I kicked a Vespoid that was nearing my legs. I hear footsteps and turned to see Kai gesturing me to move along, as we were going to head into the next area. Feeling a skip in beat in my chest, I walked after her.

**Akuno's POV**

We walked into the huge clearing, stopping at the center; I began to contemplate whether we should go through the cave or go directly to the east to our area; where it usually shows up. 'In the cave…it may be more likely for it to show up, but Hiroko won't have much cover, as opposed to going directly east and finding it, she will have the cover of the trees and the bushes around her…' I was deep in thought trying to figure out a plan. Hiroko snapped me out of reverie as she walked a little bit ahead of me, looking at something on the ground. "What is it?" I ask her, walking forward. "Look at this…" she held up what looked like a black feather; we both looked down to see some scattered about towards the east. "Guess we know where to go now." "Yup" She, putting one hand read y on her bow, and I, with one hand ready on the hilt of my sword, walked to the east, ready to take down our target.

**Normal POV**

Kai and Tsubaki walked into the next area, and immediately as soon as they entered, they ducked behind some bushes. For right there in the clearing, was one of their targets; a Nargacuga standing, minding its own business. Tsubaki silently drew her sword and reached into her bag to take out a paintball; she looked over to Kai just in time to see her setting her helmet back in place, tossing a small bottle. 'Must have been a Mega Juice she just drank…' she thought to herself. Kai made some hand gestures to motion that she will get the Nargacuga's attention while Tsubaki will mark it, and then move in to attack. Tsubaki nodded, and waited for her move.

Kai got up to move, silently moving towards the Nargacuga. When she got within range, she threw a stone she has brought with her, effectively, getting its attention AND pissing it off. She quickly drew her Corpse Blades and Demonized just as the Nargacuga turned around to do its roar. It lunged at her with its claws and fangs bared; Kai swiftly rolled towards to, slicing upward as she came back up, effectively scoring a hit on its tail. The Nargacuga skidded as it landed, turning its legs to lunge again.

At this time, Tsubaki had made her way out, ready to throw the paintball to mark it. Kai was slicing and slashing here and there. Finally she managed to make the beast trip; Tsubaki took aim and began to throw the paintball, until the unexpected happened. Luckily for her, she was able to throw the paintball in time; on the flip-side, the second Nargacuga decided to show up, landing on the ground behind her.

Quickly getting over the shock, she was barely able to put up her guard as it did its roar. The shockwave knocked her back some, but no damage was taken. Kai looked back towards her partner, only to soon realize that doing so was a mistake, she quickly turned herself back around and dodged to avoid taking a hit from the Nargacuga, but it still managed to hit her with its tail, knocking her into the base of the tree nearby. "KAI!" screamed Tsubaki as she saw Kai being slammed into the tree.

Kai was trying to get up, scooting away from the Nargacuga. She waited for the right moment, and threw a kick at the Nargacuga's face, giving her enough time to get up and Demonize. She rushed at it and unleashed a Devil Dance on its face, blasts of fire coming from each blow of her blades, blood flying, various cuts and gashes in large numbers, were all over its face. She managed to stagger it and damage its eye.

Tsubaki was rolling and dodging left and right to try and get a strike in. She managed to land enough blows on its tail to stagger it. Both Nargacuga's jumped to a spot in the area and both simultaneously went into rage mode. "Oh sh—" was all Tsubaki said before tail spikes flew in her direction. She managed to put up her shield, but she ended up taking quite a bit of damage. One of the spikes hitting her in the shoulder of her sword arm; falling backwards, clutching her shoulder, she cursed under her breath.

**Akuno's POV**

We walked into the clearing expecting to find our target, but we came to see that nothing was there. "Not here…" I said to nobody in particular. "I think we just missed it…" said Hiroko, knelt on the ground looking at tracks. "How do you reckon?" "Well, these tracks are fresh, and by the looks of it, it went…" her finger trailing off and pointing in the direction we sent Tsubaki and Kai. We did a double-take, looked at each other, and then started running as fast as we could towards the west end.

**Tsubaki's POV**

I clutched my shoulder, feeling the blood flow freely from the wound; the tail spike had gotten a good hit in. I quickly ate an herb to heal what I could and quickly jumped to the side to avoid the Nargacuga's lunge. I glanced over to Kai to see that she was okay and standing; I was worried that her being smashed into the base of the tree would have knocked her out. I reached in my bag to pull out a shock trap to set up and just as I do, I hear a deafening roar and cocked my head towards the direction of the roar to see the Nargacuga lunge at me again. I laid flat against the ground to try and avoid it. The air above me shifted as it soared over me; quickly, as soon as it flew over, I returned to setting up the trap; despite my extreme nervousness, my hands worked quickly to set it up. I ate another herb, trying to still the pain in my shoulder, as I got up and started running away from where I set the trap.

**Normal POV**

Kai had managed to trip the Nargacuga again and decided, this time, to take the opportunity to sharpen her blades first. She had gemmed her armor for Sharpening Skl Inc, so, soon she was back on the Narga, slashing away at its right forelimb, hoping to break it for parts later. She rolled away to the side, just as it got back up and lunge in a random direction. Tsubaki was focused in trying to get the Narga, the one that had its attention on her, to land on the shock trap she placed. She didn't have to wait long for it began to start a series of lunges with its claws; on the second lunge, it landed on the shock trap, setting it off.

The Narga growled in frustration as electricity went through its body, freezing it in place. Tsubaki quickly ran to its behind and went into a draw slash on its tail and going into a combo of slashes, hoping to deal enough damage or cut it off while it was still enraged. Small explosions of fire bursted forth from each slash that made contact with its tail; she rolled a little to her right to come back up in an upwards slash and going into a combo again; she was going to get in as many combos as she could before the shock trap was done.

It finished a little sooner than expected and the Narga was freed, and it swiped its tail at her, catching off guard and sending her flying. The tail spikes mainly made contact with her weapon and shield but some of the tail spikes managed to make contact with her skin. She struggled to get up from the ground; she could feel a stinging sensation on her body, looking down to see a bleeding cut across her stomach, and another, more shallow cut, just above her breasts. She cursed under her breath as she ate another herb, and readied herself for battle again.

Kai huddled in a corner by the water, pulling out some paralyzing knives, which she obviously had stashed away from the guild, and steadied her aim at the Narga. It stopped, she threw a knife, it was turning towards her, she threw another knife, it began to lunge at her, she threw another knife and then dived out of the way just in time to have the Narga land in the spot she was just in; she whipped around and threw another knife and the Narga was paralyzed, growling its frustration. She drew her dual blades and Demonized and then ran over to its tail to unleash a Devil Dance on its tail. With enough effort, she was able to cut off a good portion of its tail, the severed appendage flying off and landing a couple feet away from her; with that, the Narga let out a blood-curdling roar and swiped at her with its claw, catching her off-guard and sending her away. She stared at the beast, red eyes meeting yellow, she prepared for her possible end as she had no time to recover quickly enough to evade. Just as it reared up to attack…

**Hiroko's POV**

I sat up in the trees, notched an arrow and let it loose, hitting the Narga in its injured eye. I notched a few arrows and was focusing my shot, ready to let loose a volley of arrows. I jumped out of the tree, using all the strength in my legs to propel me forward, right over the Narga; passing over it, I let loose a volley of arrows into its back, small bursts of fire appearing from each arrow that stuck itself in its back, and landing safely behind it on my feet.

"Anyone need a hand?" I said, smirking under my helmet. I'm sure Kai was giving me a cold stare from the other side of the Narga, but I just saved her, so she owes me.

* * *

**Tsubaki's POV**

I was dodging and rolling, my breathing getting more laborious with my wounds. I saw Kai trying to cut off her Narga's tail, and I intended to do the same. Rushing over to the Narga, I started to slash at its face while it was doing its prowl stance. Explosions poured forth from my blade, various cuts and gashes forming on its face; it lunged at me with its fangs, I brought up my shield and shoved it against the incoming jaw. My shield caught in its mouth, the Narga unable to get itself free, started jerking its head around, dragging me with. The strain was too great for my arm, any more and it would break, so, I did what I could do and thrusted my sword into its eye, blinding its right side, and ripping my shield out from its mouth while it was stunned. I saw that it was now missing some teeth, blood oozing from its no longer existing eye, and from its mouth, its blood being steamed on my blade. It swiped at me with its claw, slamming me into some of the rock behind me.

My shield took the brunt of the claw, but the real damage came from me being smashed into rock. I slumped over, and coughed up blood, my back was bruised, bad, and it hurt to try and sit up. I managed to sit myself up; my vision blurred a bit, blood dripping from the corner of my mouth. My armor was torn and damaged in various places, being stained by my blood. Sitting there, I could only watch as it drew closer to me; I felt tired, and strangely calm… "_No!"_ I screamed in my head, _"It isn't over yet!" _I struggled to get up, but the most I could do was eat and herb and that wouldn't heal me enough to withstand what may come next. I brought my shield up, bracing my sword arm behind it, and waiting for it to make its move.

**Akuno's POV**

I bellowed out a mighty cry as I jumped out from behind and bringing down my Emperor Thundersword on the Nargacuga's tail, lightning cackled as the blade cleaved through the tail, the beast jumped, in a shock, away from Tsubaki. The severed tail piece landed near her, but she didn't even flinch, as she took out a potion and drank it down, some of her wounds healing. She staggered to her feet and I rushed over to help her. "Cavalry has arrived." I said, smirking under my helmet.

"What took you guys…so long?" Tsubaki replied, panting; she coughed up some more blood. I patted her on the back, she winced in pain, "Sorry," I said, taking my hand off, "but what matters now is that we are here and we can finally take out these two." She nodded and drank another potion, to heal her wounds. Bringing our weapons up, ready to fight, we steeled ourselves for the final bout with these two beasts.

**Well…there be the second chapter. If it's so long excuse me for that. Went a bit overboard; personally…I don't think this was so good; it is also up to you readers to decide that. If it doesn't show up, right above the Tsubaki's POV just a bit before this, there should be a break; this is to indicate going backwards a bit. Hiroko and Akuno show up to save the other two at the same time, but I had to do it form both of Kai's and Tsubaki's perspectives. So, that is why. Hope that cleared anything up. So go ahead: read, review, read again and review again if so needed. This might go up to an M rating, depending on what happens. See y'all later.**


	3. Target Acquired: Part 1

**Okay pplz, here is the third chapter. As per reader review, I am going to try this chapter with sticking to one POV at the least. Then again, our heroes here will be finishing off their hunt, so there wasn't going to be a whole lot of talking from the characters anyway; save for some inner thoughts. Anyway, the point being, that's going to happen. I would have written sooner but I was caught up in the old days of playing MHF (am now HR4 on my main character. I transfered her over to MHF2 after I hit HR2 and had the game).**

* * *

The four of them were together once again; the silver-clad warrior, the determined huntress, the silent hunter, and the carefree child. Each party of two was facing their respective Narga; both nearing their end. Akuno let out a battle cry before charging at the Narga, bringing his great sword down in a mighty swing, Tsubaki had gotten up and ran to circle the Narga from behind. The beast, being a bit smarter than it looked, leaped back to avoid Akuno's swing and effectively cutting off Tsubaki's plan of action.

Hiroko and Kai set to take down the other target, Hiroko running around, unleashing arrow after arrow into the Narga. Kai resumed to attacking the Narga's left hind leg as its attention was fixated on the female that was running around it. Only when did it feel the vicious slashes and the heat of a burning blaze from Kai's attacks, did it ignore the slightly annoying female to whip around and swipe at the other with its claw. Kai couldn't stop her frenzied slicing enough to duck out of the way and took a heavy hit that send her reeling into the ground. While it wasn't so observant with all her armor on, she was getting injured, quite badly. Hiroko noticed a slight stagger in the silent huntress' stance; she had to try to get the Narga to keep its attention on herself so that Kai may be able to continue attacking.

After the Narga landed back it caught Tsubaki with what was left of its tail; granted, Akuno didn't manage to sever a huge portion and Tsubaki couldn't stop herself in time and was promptly send back. Akuno managed to catch her and get her back on her feet, before going towards the direction of the Narga, with sword held high. The Narga let out a roar before flying straight up and taking flight; the winds produced halted Akuno from attempting to make a strike whilst it was ascending.

Kai took notice of the other Narga's departure and fished out a sonic bomb from her bag and throwing it to prevent the other Narga from leaving by purposely putting it into a rage. A loud shrieking noise sounded out from the sonic bomb; stopping the Narga in its tracks. Kai began to run forward to avoid the Narga's soon to come roar; the Narga, however, jumped out and landed in front of her and went into an enraged fury, letting out a mighty roar, the shockwaves tearing up the ground some. The silent huntress ran straight into the roar and was simply sent flying back, smashing into the wall; she slid down to the ground, where she proceeded to be still, unmoving.

Hiroko was hit by the shockwave, and fortunately for her, landed in the water, but it still hurt nonetheless. She began to get up and when she saw Kai's still form, her eyes went wide with shock, her being half standing in the water, her weapon off by the side. Her breathing hitched, her mind told her that she was alright, but her body refused to comply. As if by autonomous movement, she picked up her bow, notched an arrow, and focused her shot to an unimaginable level.

Tsubaki watched as Kai smashed into the forest wall, slide down the ground and remained unmoving. _"No…" _she thought to herself. For some reason, watching her limp body sit there, her chest tightened, her heart felt heavy with sorrow. Something in her snapped as she lost all abandon and charged the Narga, screaming at the top of her lungs. Akuno was too slow to stop her before he registered what had happened and what was happening. Hiroko, now standing upright in the water, let loose her focused shot. The arrow flew, with the great strength put into it, and pierced straight through the Narga's left hind leg; it cried in pain as it tripped, not knowing what had happened. Tsubaki flew into the air, bringing her blade down on the Narga's right shoulder, the blade hissing as it cut through the black hide, and flesh underneath; blood oozing and boiling.

The Narga regained its footing and tried to shake off the annoying female that was causing it great harm; to no avail. Hiroko was as a machine, firing arrow after arrow into the Narga; soon it was sporting a slight coating of arrows. It finally rid itself of Tsubaki by ramming into the tree behind it, thus, crushing her into it. She let go of her sword as the Narga jumped away, only to be met by another sonic bomb thrown by Akuno, to further prevent its escape. Tsubaki slid from the tree to her feet in a stagger; she could hardly breathe, ribs were cracked, more than likely broken. She coughed up a large amount of blood before she slid to her knees, lying against the base of the tree.

Akuno went to face the weakening beast on his own; positive he could finish it on his own. He sheathed his sword and waiting for the Narga to attack. The Narga leapt, and with instincts that could only have been formed and honed from countless hunts, Akuno jumped to the side, punching his fist into the ground, to act as traction, to swing himself around and in running straight at the Narga with impossible speed. With one hand on the hilt of his weapon, he unsheathed with blinding speed and brought it down with a vicious blow, as he came into half his weapon's reach, into the Narga's side; lightning cackled, blood sizzled as a huge, gaping slash appeared in the Narga's side; it roared and tried to whip around to hit the hunter with its tail. Loss of blood, and the hunter being in near top condition, slowed it down and the silver hunter leapt to the side, sheathing his sword as quickly as he leapt and returned to his feet.

Only did the Narga then remember the female it had knocked into the water earlier, seeing that she still remained there, launching arrows at it still. This turned out to be a fatal mistake, as one the arrows aimed true, and struck it in its uninjured eye. It shrieked out in pain, standing temporarily on its hind legs, as it roared. It started to thrash about wildly, unable to see. However, it could still feel and the direction of the arrows coming was enough for the Narga to charge at Hiroko, knowing where she was exactly.

Hiroko's hand reached for another arrow, to find her quiver empty. Only with the screaming of the Narga, did she snap back to reality, and realized where she was. _"What…what am I doing?" _she thought, not remembering what had happened. She turned her head to see a blind, enraged, Naruga going straight at her. Unable to scream for help, she just stood there, unable to move out of fear. The Naruga jumped, she closed her eyes and…

Nothing. Nothing happened. She wasn't being horribly and gruesomely ripped to shreds. She didn't hear the sounds of a Naruga growling with satisfaction. Braving herself, she slowly opened an eye, and then both at once to see a Naurga staring her in the face. She shrieked and fell backwards on her butt, into the water, scooting back. Barely noticing it wasn't moving or making a sound, she then noticed even _further_ what had happened.

Akuno was underneath it, his sword ran through the juncture of its neck; the blade impaled through, protruding from the top. Lightning cackled lightly along the blade as blood dripped down. With great strength, he heaved the beast down to the ground, pulling out his sword from its body. Hiroko was in utter amazement and dumbfounded.

"You wondered how I got here so quick?" he asked her, helping her up out of the water after sheathing his sword.

"Y-yeah…" she replied, meekly, as she allowed herself to be helped up. "It was when that last arrow pierced its eye. I took the opportunity to start running to where you were. I am going to assume that in a last desperation attempt, it went after you, and not even noticing me off to the side." It started to make sense as she listened; he had waited for it to strike, even a Naruga can't change its direction in the air during an attack, especially in its last attempt to kill off one of the hunters. He took advantage of that to finish it off as its neck would be wide open to an attack.

She walked over to the body of the Naruga and began to pluck out her arrows, only keeping the ones that could be of use. Akuno walked over to Tsubaki, who was unconscious at the moment, and tried to carry her. She immediately awoke with pain shooting through her body; she cried out, tears slipping through, the pain enormous. "Tsubaki! What's wrong?" Akuno asked in an urgent tone, not sure of where to place his hands for fear of causing her more pain.

"I-I-It hurts…m-my…" she gasped and coughed out blood onto the ground, sitting slightly hunched over, "my…my ribs…I think they are…" she gasped and wheezed in pain, unable to finish her sentence. "What can I do?" he asked, simply unable to do anything. "I-In my b-bag…there's…a..potion…" she wheezed out; he could manage out potion, not what kind of potion. He reached for her bag, being careful not to unsettle her too much. He opened it and began rummage through, looking for a 'potion' that would most likely be the one she was referencing to; whichever one stood out.

"Hm? Is this…?" he reached a little further and pulled out…a max potion. While in retrospect, it wasn't hard to obtain or make, you rarely see hunters packing any of it. Usually they just pack mega potions, and the usual stuff. He opened it and helped her to drink it, being careful to not cause her pain. After she had finished it off, she began coughing more until she settled down to just heavy breathing. Slowly she started to get up to walk over to the lifeless body of the Naruga. "H-hey! Should you be getting up?" Akuno asked urgently, standing up with her, prepared to catch her if she fell from weakness.

She staggered her way to the Naruga, pulled her sword out from its shoulder, sheathed it, and then began to carve the body. Akuno managed to watch in amazement; the girl has to have at least several broken ribs, and here she is standing and walking around! _"How can she be walking around? Sure, it was a max potion but…"_ he thought to himself as he walked over and began to carve his share from the body.

"I mixed something into that max potion, to numb out pain. Didn't think I would ever have to use it someday but…now is as good a time as any." She picked out a couple fangs that were stuck in her shield and bagged them. "Don't give me that look," she said to him, not looking at him, knowing he was most likely giving her a look from under that helmet, "we still have one more target, and I can still move and breathe; not to mention being able to fight still."

She finished carving up the Naruga's lifeless corpse and began to walk over to Kai's still form on the ground. Picking up in pace before going into a run, she soon arrived at the girl's limp body; she knelt down and tried to see any signs of her being _alive_. With all of her armor on, it was hard to tell if she was; Tsubaki decided that Kai's helmet had to come off to be able to tell. She got as far as placing her hands on the woman's helmet before stopping completely, her breath hitched—this would be the first time she ever saw the mysterious woman's face, in the two years that she has known her. Even when she had first met her, she was a clad up in armor.

Akuno came walking over to see Tsubaki with her hands placed on the sides of Kai's helmet. Wondering what was up, he came closer to hear Tsubaki's hitched breathing. "What's the matter? You are going to have to take off her helmet to see if she is alive." he said without even attempting to beat around the bush. "I know but…" she said in an almost inaudible whisper. This woman has always made her feel strange. At first an uneasy feeling, but then…it came to a different feeling. She felt…calm, and strangely happy when around the mysterious woman; she can't explain it. To her, it just felt like a violation to take of the woman's helmet without her permission. She took a deep breath, stilled her shaking arms, and slowly began to take off Kai's helmet and…

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**And what? I am a vampire and here's a million dollars? Or I am vampire and here's your own spaceship? (If you never heard of homestarrunner then you won't get the joke). Okay, putting the lame joke aside…I'm leaving it here. Leave in suspense; what does she look like? What will become of Tsubaki in her current state? Will they abandon the quest for the better of their party members? Or continue on for the glory? Well, you are going to have to read to find out. Read, review, and read and review again if needed. I will be playing MHF in the meantime.**


	4. Target Acquired: Part 2

**Okay….'nother chapter up. Again, I was off playing MHF. Working on getting a devil slicer; then going to finish off what quests I have left to get to HR5. Those accursed khezu just refuse to give me a single thunder sac T_T Anyway…again, going to try to stick to one POV, though with this chapter, maybe, maybe not. Anyway, go on, read, enjoy the latest chapter of Path of the Hunters.**

**Akuno: This story is so lame**

**Myself: Hey, I'm the author here; you wouldn't be here at all if I never typed up this story. Hell, you wouldn't be here in the author's comments if I weren't so bored.**

**Akuno: …**

**Myself: That's what I thought. …ANYWAY, minus the randomness….enjoy!**

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**Tsubaki's POV**

I had expected pale, pasty looking skin and sleek, silvery, white hair; I was partially right. Gathering up enough courage, I pulled the helmet from her head, and I saw her face for the first time in two years. I was greeted by very sleek, long, black hair, coming down as I lifted her helmet off. She had very pale skin; reminded me of the snow on the Snowy Mountains. She had black coloring over her eyelids; I wondered what it was, but I paid little attention to it as I began to check her to see if she was alive.

I moved my head closer to hers, trying to hear breathing of any sort. I couldn't hear anything, and I started to panic; I pulled my head back swiftly, the air batting against my face. I then saw, out of the corner of my eye, Akuno move in closer to her. My face started to heat up as he practically put his head on hers, where foreheads would be touching; _"How can he just….do that so easily?"_ I thought to myself.

"She's alive. Breathing, but barely." He said in a monotone voice.

"How can you tell…?" I asked hesitantly.

"I have better hearing than you do for one and you are too tensed and worried. You have to calm yourself down to hear her, and be very close."

I gulped and started breathing in a steady pace to calm myself down. Once I did that, I got my head close to her to try and hear her again.

"You will have to get closer than that." He said aloud, halting my action. So I put my hands on her head and leaned in close, my forehead almost touching hers. I strained myself and sure enough, I could hear faint breathing.

_"She's alive…"_ I thought to myself relieved. Picking up the helmet I was about to put it back on her head, but…I set it back on the ground; well, rather on her lap. Feeling numbness in my body, thanks to my max potion, I got back up and straightened out what was left of my top. That Naruga left me rather mangled, the white portion was really the only thing left of my top. My body was covered in bruises, cuts and gashes, and broken ribs. I think I looked liked total shit right there and then.

"She's alive, but we can't afford to wait for her to awaken, unfortunately," Akuno said, while getting back up, and searching through his bag, "we will have to finish the hunt with just the three of us. It shouldn't be difficult with the other target as injured as it is already." He finished as he took a whetstone out of his bag and began to sharpen his sword.

"Why sharpen it when you barely used it?" called out Hiroko as she walked over to where we were, cleaning one of her arrows, already having cleaned the Naruga corpse of usable arrows.

He continued to sharpen his sword as he answered her, "You never know when you need your weapon to be in prime condition." Hiroko just rolled her eyes, though Akuno didn't notice with her helmet on. He finished sharpening his weapon and stood back up again, sheathing his sword. "Now, we did not mark the target as I am to understand," he said while looking at me.

"Hey! You try marking a creature when you got two of them on your back." I snapped back at him.

"I will, and I have done it," he replied smoothly; I just shut my mouth then, knowing full well he had done so numerous times before. "Now, with our previous ventures here," he pulled out the map he took from the supply box, "it should have retreated to either this area here, here, or…here," he said pointing to the northernmost area, the area furthest east, where Hiroko and himself were earlier, and the area that marked the cave.

"We will head forward, being the closest area," Akuno said, turning around to leave.

"Not yet! I'm hungry…" Hiroko whined, patting her stomach. He stood there for a bit, contemplating I would imagine, his foot tapping on the ground.

"Fine. We will rest for a bit and then resume our hunt," he turned around to us, "but only 5 minutes, got it?"

"Yes sir!" Hiroko and I said in unison, in which Hiroko happily sat down on the ground and began to rummage through her bag for whatever she brought to eat. That girl, she was adorable and all, but she ate enough for 3 men; I wondered how she managed to keep her figure…I looked down at myself, looking at my own body. I looked over to Hiroko, who had already taken off her helmet, letting her golden hair free, and munched away on a ration taken from the supply box.

I sat down, hoping to rest my body a bit. The potion concoction was new; I never tried it before, so I didn't know how long it would last. Looking over at Kai, I could only imagine what her face looked like these past years, and here I am now looking at it. She was much more beautiful than I ever imagined, my chest had a fluttery feeling to it.

Shaking my head furiously, I reached in my bag for a whetstone and went to sharpen my sword; after what I had put it through, it needed a good sharpening. I cocked my head towards Akuno's direction to see that his helmet visor was turned up; it looked like he was eating as well, and drinking down various potions.

"_I wonder what his face looks like…"_ I thought; not that I haven't thought about it before. Again, I looked over to Hiroko, seeing that she was still stuffing her face; man, that girl sure can eat. She probably packed more food than needed, but it was kinda cute, seeing her like a child. I decided to eat a ration myself, taking slow bites at it, trying not to strain my body.

"Whoo! I'm stuffed!" Hiroko exclaimed with a smile on her face, drinking an Armorskin before putting her helmet back on. I got up, rubbing my shoulder; the bleeding had stopped for now, but I would have to get it looked at as soon as we get back into the village. "Alright then, let us move on already. By now it should gone to area 3, where we were earlier," he turned to face me, his visor back down over his face, "are you well enough to fight?" he asked.

"Of course, I told you that earlier didn't I? Although…I feel uncomfortable leaving her there though," I said, looking over to Kai. "Well, we could do this." He went over to Kai, putting her helmet back on, and then walked back over to us.

"What are you…?" I was about to say when he took something out of his bag and tossed it at her. It hit the ground and then a green smoke appeared around her. "Oh! A farcaster!" I exclaimed, waving my hand in front of my face.

"Yeah, she'll be sent back to base camp. She'll be safe there, and if she awakens, she will find us." He finished as he turned around to go the next area; Hiroko and I following suit. I looked back at her again before turning back to go on ahead.

"Hiroko, can you get anything?" asked Akuno, as we all stood in the next area; Hiroko examining the ground for tracks or any sign of the Naruga's whereabouts.

"Hrm…" she mumbled, staring intently at the ground, looking for any kind of sign, "Oh? What do we have…here?" she picked up a black looking feather; looking further on she identified some blood trails and tracks left by the Naruga, which had been erased some by the dragging of its tail. She grabbed some of the dirt, feeling it, is what it looked liked.

She pointed towards the direction of the easternmost area, aka area 3 on the map. "It went that way! And by the looks of it, it wasn't long ago before it left this area."

"Alright then, let's move out!" Akuno cried out as he began to run towards said area; we quickly followed him, eager to finish this hunt already.

Coming into the area, we swiftly ducked behind some bushes; Hiroko had been right, the Naruga was there in the middle of the area. We ducked back down to formulate a plan; all of us looking at each other, talking in hushed voices. "We need to get its attention, Hiroko, that's your job." He motioned to her to get ready.

"Okie dokie!" was all she said before she started climbing up the tree next to us.

"Now, we will try to flank it while she has it distracted. If both of us can't, then whichever one of us can, will," he said, putting a hand on my left shoulder, "be careful, alright?" I looked back at him, nodding in confirmation,

"Right."

"Alright, let us go then."

We both split up to opposite sides of our initial spot, waiting for Hiroko to make her move.

**Normal POV**

Hiroko climbed the length of the tree, stealthily, making her way to the tree tops. When she reached the top, she stood upright, balancing perfectly on the branches. She made small hops over to and from branches until she reached the large, overhanging branch in the middle; almost directly above the Naruga.

She took out her bow and notched an arrow, and focused her strength into it, trying to find the strength from before. As soon as the Narga made a move to turn to leave, she released her arrow, and it soared out, piercing through the Naruga's right wing, but not all the way through. It stopped and turned towards her direction, in doing so Hiroko had fired off another two arrows, both sticking into its hide.

**Tsubaki's POV**

As soon as we saw the Naruga stop mid-turn and go to face a new direction, Akuno and I moved out, taking cover of what bushes there were. I managed to catch a glimpse of Hiroko jumping around in the rooftops, waiting to shoot another arrow, not wanting to run out again. The Naruga, not taking notice of either of us, was clearly taken by surprise as Akuno came up from its flank, bringing down his sword on the Naruga's backside, lightning cackled, inflicting a major wound.

I ran out to flank the Naruga as it turned around to face its attacker; I jumped, bringing my sword down on its right hind leg, the blade cutting through fur and hide, a burst of explosion as it made contact; bringing my sword in an upwards slash, creating another burst of explosion, I continued the combo of slashing before I rolled out to the side, barely missing the Naruga turning around to try and take a bite at me.

Hiroko continued to rain arrows upon the Naruga, effectively diverting its attention when it was needed. Akuno and I continued to slash at the Naruga when it was allowed, bursts of explosions and cackling of lightning alternating blows. The Naruga was covered in cuts, gashes, and arrows, but it wasn't being slowed down by any of it. Quickly I rolled out and ran away behind a tree, the Naruga letting loose a vicious roar; the shockwaves ripping at the ground as it went into a frenzified state. Akuno Blocked the roar with his blade, the shockwaves pushing him back slightly.

It flew up in an attempt to get at the annoying female hiding in the trees. Catching her off-guard, the force of the wind caught her and she lost her footing, falling to the earth. Akuno rushed over and slid to break her fall; she promptly landed on him, dropping them both down to the ground.

Looking over at them, I realized I had to do something to keep the Naruga distracted long enough for them to get back up. So I did the only thing I could think of to do; when the Naruga came back down to earth, I ran over and jumped on its back, sticking my sword into it and held on to dear life. The Naruga growled in pain and frustration and began to wildly trash about.

"_You think I would have learned from the last time…" _I thought to myself, thinking back to when I was latched onto the other Naruga and it slammed me into the base of the tree, but I didn't have many ideas and I need to distract it long enough to..

"Ugh.!" I grunted in pain, the wound on my right shoulder had re-opened, blood flowing again; the stress from holding on was too much for it. Flinching and gritting through the pain, I had to put most of my strength into my shield arm to hold on tight. By then, Akuno and Hiroko had already gotten back to their feet. Hiroko went to run around the Naruga, trying to aim for its legs; Akuno advanced towards the Naruga to try and keep its attention on him.

"There!" Hiroko cried out as she fired another arrow strong enough to pierce through the Naruga. It had struck a vital spot of some sort as the beast tripped onto its side. Using the opportunity, I ripped out my sword from its back, crawled up to its head and thrust it into its eye.

I ended up being slammed into the ground anyway as the Naruga used its head to fling me off, my sword hand being unable to maintain a steady grip. Rolling on the ground, I could feel the numbness in my ribs a bit less than before.

_"Wait...less? Damn!" _the thought going through my mind; the effects of my potion must be wearing off a bit. It might not have much time left before the effects wear off completely.

Akuno wasted no time after I had been thrown off, taking the chance to cleave into the Naruga's left shoulder, the lightning cackled as it cut deep, pulling it out and rolling to the side before the Naruga got back to its feet; he sheathed his sword, placed a hand in his bag and then waited.

The Naruga, seeing that it couldn't possibly win, turned to escape, limping its way towards the small clearing.

"You shall stay!" Akuno yelled out as he threw the sonic bomb he had his hand on in the bag, the small object releasing a screeching sound, making the Naruga jump away from the clearing into a small spot surrounded by trees, where it then proceeded to roar, signaling its going into rage.

Weaponless, I decided to try to set up another shock trap, heading towards a spot where I thought it would be likely to go to. Reaching my destination, I reached in my bag to take out the materials to make it. A small pain shot through my body as I reached my arm into the bag.

_"It must be wearing off even more now. No! Not yet, just a little more…"_ working faster to make the trap itself, my hands fumbled a bit due to the pain. Then I turned my sight to see the Naruga making its way towards me and also to see Hiroko jumping on its back, hanging on to dear life.

"Hurry…up…and…make...the…trap!" her voice coming out in breaks as the Naruga thrashed about; I needed no further encouragement as my hands hurried as fast as they could manage. Successful in making the trap, I went to set it up as fast as I could; the effects of my potion wearing off even more as I felt stronger pain shoot through me.

The Naruga stretched out to take a bite at me when Akuno came out of nowhere, sword drawn, and blocked its attack; its teeth firmly biting down on the blade, not seeming to care it was hurting itself.

"Quick! While I have it in place!" he shouted to me, grunting to keep steadfast. I finished setting up the trap and jumped backwards and called out to the Naruga, hoping to lure it towards the trap. Akuno let up on the strength he was building in his legs and allowed himself to be pushed back by the Naruga, inching closer to the shock trap.

"Tsubaki! Catch!" called out Hiroko as she ripped out my sword from the Naruga's eye and threw it to me. Catching it, I started tapping it on my shield, creating noise to keep the Naruga's attention on myself. Keeping watch on how close to the trap the Naruga was, I mainly kept my eyes focused on the Naruga's, challenging it. It growled, as in accepting the challenge, pushing against Akuno even more, determined to get to me.

"Now!" I screamed as I skipped a couple steps back, Akuno throwing off his guard and rolling to the side, Hiroko jump-stepping off the Naruga's back, my movement and broken focus of stares, enticed it to lunge forward and getting snared in the trap. As the shock trap took effect, we all reared up to strike the possible final blow; Akuno sheathed his sword, hand on the hilt, dashed toward it after getting up from his rolling position, Hiroko, notching an arrow, ran around to the front, to face the Naruga, I ran forward and then went into a jump, ready to bring my sword down onto it. That was sure to have finally finished it off.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant black blob plummeted from the sky onto the ground in front of us, knocking us all back. I grunted in pain as more feeling came back to my body; I looked up to see what that thing was and my eyes widened in shock.

"N-n-no way…" stuttered Hiroko.

"What the hell is that doing here?" exclaimed Akuno as he rushed to get back on his feet.

"A…another…" was the only word I could manage out of pain and shock. What fell out of the sky and was staring at us was a monstrous sized Naruga. It easily doubled the size of the two Naruga we were hunting. We were overwhelmed by its towering size. Instead of attacking us like we thought it would, it turned around to face the other Naruga and shoved it with so much force it was sent crashing into a couple of trees near us.

"Quick! We have to…" Hiroko began to call out before she was cut off by the Naruga who had caught her off-guard and clawed her, sending her rolling back. There was a trail of blood along her path, and what looked like some shredded pieces of her armor. Akuno dashed toward Hiroko's body, drew his weapon and stood there to face the Naruga himself, ready for anything.

Boxed in by two Naruga, it didn't look so good for us. So, I did what crazy thing any other hunter would have done for his/her team. I ran over to the new Naruga and prepared to try and keep its attention on me, by any means necessary. My attempted plan resulted in me being whipped by the Naruga's massive tail, its size crushing me even though I had blocked with my shield. I rolled into a standing guard position after being whipped, my head dizzy, my vision blurred.

The Naruga then scurried toward me into a lunging bite with its large teeth, the impact causing me to skid back and trip over a tree root. Having lost my balance, I obviously fell down, and I couldn't move from that spot. Not just from fear alone, but the pain had returned to my body. Coughing up a good amount of blood, I looked up at the Naruga which reared up to come down on me. I closed my eyes and just waited for it to be over with, though in the back of my mind, I prayed for something to happen.

When it never came, I started to wonder what happened. I felt light-headed, but perhaps that was due to the loss of blood. I opened my eyes to find myself looking into a pair of red eyes, and barely recognized where I was.

"K-kai?" I asked in confusion, my vision was blurring out, my head was throbbing, "what are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I am doing? I just saved you." She replied in a soft voice. Her voice wasn't what one would have expected; I expected it to be kinda deep or maybe a bit higher pitched. The last thing I heard her say before I blacked out was, "By the way, my name is Shizuru."

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**Sorry for the wait. I was busy [with Monster Hunter Freedom]. I actually was thinking of going through and fix what I could in this or re-write the entire thing. Guess which I picked to do? And I was contemplating on including the part of the monster sized Naruga appearing in this chapter or making it the start of the next chapter. Oh well, it's done and finished. Imagine having to fight three Naruga in one sitting. Anyway, read, enjoy, blah, blah, you know the drill. Hopefully I get the next one out sooner.**

**Update! 7-22-10**

**I am looking to have drawings of the characters and have them displayed on my deviantart. I lack the ability to draw on my own merit (hence why I am writing this story, and write in general). If anyone is interested and would be willing to help, let me know through PM on here or dA (check my profile) to get details of the characters and details in general. In the meanwhile I will try my absolute best to draw them on my own.**


	5. Intervention

**Note from the author-**

**Hey guys, it's me. I know it has been like an extremely long time since I last updated this story. Just work with me here, I was writing up this story during the summer.**

**Also, one of the readers brought up to my attention that I needed an appropriate background situation/story for one of the characters. So I have been trying to figure something out, and it isn't easy. I just may end up saying screw it and continue on with how I was going on typing this out.**

**I am in college now, so my time is rather occupied, believe it or not, with other stuff, non-homework related but other necessities.**

**So I will try to get back to "Path of the Hunters" when I can. Maybe over the winter break I will, and if I get some motivation to write again.**

**Til then, see you all next chapter!**

**-Akuno**


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